Tag Archives | artisan chocolate

I know. You think I visit Portland for the beautiful weather, the cool mornings where overcast skies are a welcome reprieve. Overcast skies, a welcome reprieve? Yes. I live in the Washington, DC area where a walk around the park feels more like a steam bath than a stroll. Actually, I visit this city for the chocolate. Teresa Ulrich, head chocolatier at Pearl Chocolate, set the stage for my most recent chocolate tasting excursion. Teresa and Duncan, her chocolate partner, were generous enough to give me (and two of my chocolate-loving friends) a private tour […]

“Do you like chocolate?” I asked the young woman sitting beside me, flying the not-so-friendly skies of United. My husband rolled his eyes. I could almost hear him saying under his breath, “You’ll talk to anyone.” “Who doesn’t?” she smiled. I offered her one of my Santa Barbara chocolate finds. Her eyes lit up when she noticed hazelnuts bursting through layers of darker-than-night chocolate. I found Renaud’s Patisserie & Bistro in a similar conversation, with a total stranger, as my husband and I waited to board our plane to California. It started out with a […]

Sue Ann Gleason is a culinary nutritionist, radiant life expert, and writer living in the Washington, DC area with her husband John. When not working with clients, she can be found sampling exotic chocolates or building broccoli forests in her mashed potatoes.